Beat Street
| Beat Street | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Stan Lathan |
| Produced by | Harry Belafonte David V. Picker |
| Written by | Andy Davis David Gilbert Paul Golding Steven Hager (story) |
| Starring | Rae Dawn Chong Guy Davis Jon Chardiet Leon W. Grant Saundra Santiago |
| Music by | Arthur Baker Harry Belafonte Webster Lewis |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 6, 1984 |
| Running time | 105 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
"Beat Street" may also refer to Orange Street in Kingston, Jamaica.
Beat Street (1984) was the second mainstream hip hop dramatic feature film, following Breakin'. It is set in New York City during the rise in the popularity of hip hop culture in the early 1980s. Notable performances include a song by Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, breakdance battles between the New York City Breakers and the Rock Steady Crew, and cameos by beatboxer Doug E. Fresh, Richard Lee Sisco, and the Treacherous Three.
The movie was the east coast answer to Breakin' , which displayed the East Coast style of break dancing, DJing, and graffiti with a mild social undertone. Some of the plotline was based on the graffiti documentary Style Wars. Most visibly, the villain character Spit in Beat Street was lifted from the way the real-life graffiti artist Cap was portrayed in Style Wars.
Contents |
Cast
- Mary Alice - Cora
- Afrika Bambaataa
- Jon Chardiet - Ramo/Ramon
- Rae Dawn Chong - Tracy
- Doug E. Fresh
- Crazy Legs
- Guy Davis - Kenny
- Leon W. Grant - Chollie
- DJ Jazzy Jay
- Kool Herc
- Kool Moe Dee
- Melle Mel
- Saundra Santiago - Carmen
- Robert Taylor - Lee
- Richard Lee Sisco Jr.
Trivia
- Kadeem Hardison is credited as "High School Student" in the film. His shots were cut completely along with the classroom uprocking battle scene.
- The trailer includes an alternate version of title song performed by Kool Moe Dee, which also did not appear in the movie nor on the original soundtrack albums.
- Most of the graffiti art that was displayed all throughout the film was not done by real graffiti artists - it was airbrushed by set decorators.
- This was the first American film to feature more than one soundtrack album. Originally, Atlantic Records, which released the soundtrack albums, had three volumes planned, but only two of these were released. The second volume was never released on compact disc.
External links
Categories
1984 films | Hip hop media | Orion Pictures films